Worcester rally protests deportation policies

WORCESTER — Calling on the Obama administration to immediately suspend all deportations, dozens of proponents of immigration reform held a rally Saturday outside the federal courthouse on Main Street.

Carrying signs that read, "Stop Deporting Dreamers," "Families Torn Apart Daily" and "Liberation Not Deportation," the 50 or so demonstrators urged President Barack Obama not to wait for congressional action on a comprehensive immigration overhaul bill, but to use his executive authority to bring an immediate halt to deportations that are separating families.

The president could accomplish that, speakers said, by expanding the deferred action program he established earlier to give a reprieve from deportation to some immigrant youths brought to the U.S. as minors.

"We want President Obama to be a real reformer, not the deporter-in-chief. He can give us relief with the stroke of a pen," said Isabel Gonzalez-Webster, co-founder of N-Cite Media, one of the organizers of the event. Other sponsors included Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, Neighbor to Neighbor, the YWCA Racial and Social Justice Task Force and Service Employees International Union, Local 509.

Similar rallies were planned across the country yesterday under the banner of, "Two Million Too Many." Rally sponsors said the number of deportations since President Obama took office was fast approaching the 2 million mark.

"We're hoping to get people information, to inform folks, to put a face on immigration and to let our elected officials know that we want comprehensive immigration reform," Angelique Webster, also a co-founder of N-Cite, said of the peaceful demonstration.

Currently bogged down in the House of Representatives is a Senate-passed bill that would clear a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally and also beef up border security.

U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, told the crowd that a minority in the House was blocking passage of meaningful immigration reform. Because of inaction, he said, he recently joined some of his congressional colleagues in urging President Obama to use his executive authority to immediately suspend deportations.

"This country is unique because of our diversity, because we are a nation of immigrants," Mr. McGovern said. "We're all brothers and sisters and we need to start acting like that," he added.